Crop Progress: Harvest Continues Near Average Pace, Slow Start for Winter Wheat Emergence

Sep 28, 2022

For the week ending Sept. 25, 2022, there were 5.4 days suitable for fieldwork, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Topsoil moisture supplies rated 40% very short, 37% short, 23% adequate and 0% surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies rated 43% very short, 37% short, 20% adequate and 0% surplus.

Field Crops Report:

Corn condition rated 17% very poor, 19% poor, 26% fair, 32% good and 6% excellent. Corn dented was 96%, near 97% last year and equal to the five-year average. Mature was 71%, near 69% last year and ahead of 64% average. Harvested was 13%, near 12% last year and 10% average.

Soybean condition rated 14% very poor, 19% poor, 26% fair, 34% good and 7% excellent. Soybeans dropping leaves was 81%, near 85% last year and equal to average. Harvested was 13%, near 15% last year and 14% average.

Winter wheat planted was 40%, behind 57% last year and 56% average. Emerged was 4%, behind 18% last year and 15% average.

Sorghum condition rated 27% very poor, 28% poor, 20% fair, 19% good and 6% excellent. Sorghum coloring was 95%, near 98% last year and 97% average. Mature was 43%, behind 58% last year and 52% average. Harvested was 7%, near 10% last year and 8% average.

Dry edible bean condition rated 4% very poor, 9% poor, 36% fair, 46% good and 5% excellent. Dry edible beans dropping leaves was 82%, behind 88% last year. Harvested was 45%, behind 61% last year.

Pasture and Range Report:

Pasture and range conditions rated 45% very poor, 25% poor, 22% fair, 7% good and 1% excellent.

Source : unl.edu

Video: Moving Ag Research Forward Through Collaboration

BY: Ashley Robinson

It may seem that public and private researchers have different goals when it comes to agricultural research. However, their different strategies can work in tandem to drive agricultural research forward. Public research may focus more on high-risk and applied research with federal or outside funding, while private sector researchers focus more on research application.

“For me, the sweet spot for public private sector research is when we identify problems and collaborate and can use that diverse perspective to address the different aspects of the challenge. Public sector researchers can work on basic science high risk solutions as tools and technologies are developed. They then can work with their private sector partners who prototype solutions,” Mitch Tuinstra, professor of plant breeding and genetics in Purdue University’s Department of Agronomy, said during the Jan. 10 episode of Seed Speaks.

Public researchers they have the flexibility to be more curiosity driven in their work and do discovery research. This is complimentary to private research, which focuses on delivering a product, explained Jed Christianson, canola product design lead for Bayer CropScience, explained during the episode.

“As a seed developer, we worry about things like new crop diseases emerging. Having strong public sector research where people can look into how a disease lifecycle cycle works, how widespread is it and what damage it causes really helps inform our product development strategies,” he added.

It’s not always easy though to develop these partnerships. For Christianson, it’s simple to call up a colleague at Bayer and start working on a research project. Working with someone outside of his company requires approvals from more people and potential contracts.

“Partnerships take time, and you always need to be careful when you're establishing those contracts. For discoveries made within the agreement, there need to be clear mechanisms for sharing credits and guidelines for anything brought into the research to be used in ways that both parties are comfortable with,” Christianson said.

Kamil Witek, group leader of 2Blades, a non-profit that works with public and private ag researchers, pointed out there can be limitations and challenges to these partnerships. While private researchers are driven by being able to make profits and stay ahead of competitors, public researchers may be focused on information sharing and making it accessible to all.

“The way we deal with this, we work in this unique dual market model. Where on one hand we work with business collaborators, with companies to deliver value to perform projects for them. And at the same time, we return the rights to our discoveries to the IP to use for the public good in developing countries,” Witek said during the episode.

At the end of the day, the focus for all researchers is to drive agricultural research forward through combining the knowledge, skills and specializations of the whole innovation chain, Witek added.

“If there's a win in it for me, and there's a win in it for my private sector colleagues in my case, because I'm on the public side, it’s very likely to succeed, because there's something in it for all of us and everyone's motivated to move forward,” Tuinstra said.